[1] Muhammad claimed to be the grandson of Amir ʽAbd al-Shakur ibn Yusuf; however R. A. Caulk doubts this claim, observing that "the usurper who ruled Harar for nearly twenty years until deposed and murdered by the Egyptians was so directly descended from this or any other amir", agreeing with his Harari and Oromo informants that "his father, Ali, had merely adopted the name of his patron, Abd al-Shakur, and that he was really the son of a rich Anniya Oromo, Mayu, from the south-west of Harar."
He escaped arrest by fleeing the city in either 1854 or 1855 and found sanctuary amongst the Ala Oromo living beyond Gara Mullata mountain to the west.
[4] Richard Pankhurst also notes that Emir Muhammad forbade his subjects from eating rice or dates, "declaring that they were suitable only for rulers.
[6] Nonetheless, Muhammad lack the power to make much headway in this endeavor, and it was only after the Egyptian conquest that this policy made major strides.
"[8] Two letters of Emir Muhammad survive, both dated 6 October 1875, to Ra'uf Pasha, which discuss the terms of the city's surrender.